IMDb History

A Birthday Welcome and Thank You:

IMDb turned 20 on October 17th, 2010.

You might wonder how it is possible for IMDb to be 20 since the first web browser wasn't really available until 1991. Well, on October 17th in 1990 I published a series of scripts which allowed you to search a lists of credits collected by a wonderful USENET group called "rec.arts.movies". Though the naming was still four years off IMDb was, in essence, born. Below this open letter is a bit more history about the site, for those interested.

Suffice it to say, however, that since that time IMDb has become more than a list of searchable credits and, although we now enjoy the patronage of over 100 million movie and TV lovers each month and are proud of our past, we continue to look to the future and strive for improvement. So far this year we have made IMDb available on mobile devices with iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows Phone 7 applications, along with our mobile friendly site at http://m.imdb.com/. On the main web site we have launched many features including: Facebook shares & likes; HD trailers; user lists; and we redesigned our home, name and title pages. Hardly a day goes by without a new feature or an enhancement going live and that’s all part of the excitement of working here (we are recruiting too, see our jobs page for more). Each week we add thousands of new pieces of content from titles / names (and associated data), user reviews, clips, trailers, full length videos, photos and news articles.

We are ever mindful that we could not do this without our data contributors and content partners so thank you if you have ever updated any information on IMDb.

Meanwhile our IMDb Pro service continues to help industry professionals make better business and creative decisions, we help filmmakers and festivals promote and distribute their work with Withoutabox and provide the best box-office information with Box Office Mojo.

But the heart and soul of IMDb remains the users and contributors who keep us on our toes and keep the data coming. We share your passion as we share this anniversary celebration with you.

Our great thanks,

Col NeedhamFounder & CEO

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